Penn State players vow to stick together post-scandal

Penn State senior running back Michael Zordich, left foreground, and senior linebacker Michael Mauti, right foreground, give a statement in support of their team, as other players look on, Wednesday, July 25, 2012 in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/The Centre Daily Times, Nabil K. Mark)

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — The Penn State football players looked on stoically as two of their teammates announced to the world: “We’re going to see this thing through.”

There were no smiles or slaps on the back among the more than 30 Nittany Lions who huddled outside the school’s football facility Wednesday morning. After the statement was read, they turned around and walked back into the building.

“We want to let the nation know that we’re proud of who we are,” senior fullback Michael Zordich said, flanked by his fellow players. “We’re the true Penn Staters, and we’re going to stick together through this. We’re going to see this thing through, and we’re going to do everything we can for the university. We know it’s not going to be easy, but we know what we’re made of.”

NCAA sanctions will keep the Nittany Lions out of a bowl game for the rest of these players’ careers, and college sports’ governing body is allowing any of them to transfer to another school and get on the field right away. But on Wednesday, at least 13 players listed as first-stringers on the preseason depth chart affirmed their commitment to staying in Happy Valley, including senior quarterback Matt McGloin.

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Neither Zordich nor senior linebacker Michael Mauti — both sons of former Penn State players — mentioned former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky by name during the impromptu news conference, where they didn’t take any questions after reading a statement.

“We take this as an opportunity to create our own legacy,” Mauti said. “This program was not built by one man and it’s sure as hell not going to get torn down by one man. This program was built on every alumni, every single player that came before us, built on their backs.”

The Nittany Lions can’t play in a bowl game until the 2016 season after an unprecedented child sex abuse scandal that shattered the program’s image as a place where “success with honor” was the rule. The scholarship reductions they’ll receive could make it difficult for new coach Bill O’Brien to field a competitive squad during the next few seasons.

That’s why support will be needed from fans and alumni more than ever, the players said.

“We’re going to do everything in our power to get this place back on track,” Zordich said. “I’m personally calling out every member of Nittany Nation — all the students, faculty, fans and family members, alumni, everything that there is. Please, please come support us through this, because we need you just as much as you need us. And together we’re going to get through this thing to the end.”

Mauti is expected to be a leader on the defensive side, while McGloin won the starting quarterback job during spring practice.

On Twitter, McGloin called the NCAA penalties “extremely harsh.”

“I am a Nittany Lion and will remain one,” he tweeted. “I believe in the core values I have learned in this program. It is not Nittany Lion Football. It is Nittany Lion family.”

But some players will weigh whether to transfer, with other schools wooing them. Illinois spokesman Kent Brown confirmed that a group of assistant coaches traveled to State College on Wednesday to talk to some Nittany Lions players. Brown said Illini athletic director Mike Thomas informed Penn State of the trip.

Cornerback Stephon Morris, who attended Wednesday’s news conference, tweeted: “We have chosen to stay at PSU & other opposing coaches are outside our apartment. Was that the intentions of the NCAA.” He added the hashtags “LeaveUsAlone” and “WeAre.”

O’Brien told ESPN on Wednesday that while opposing coaches needed only to email or fax the compliance department to receive clearance to speak to players, he believed there was a protocol they should follow. O’Brien cited Central Florida’s George O’Leary, Syracuse’s Doug Marrone and Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz as having reached out to him first.

It’s been less than two weeks since an investigation by former FBI director Louis Freeh concluded former coach Joe Paterno and other high-ranking university officials covered up abuse allegations involving Sandusky, who awaits sentencing on charges he abused 10 boys, some of them in team facilities.

In that time, Paterno’s bronze likeness has been removed from outside Beaver Stadium and the NCAA imposed harsh sanctions that include a $60 million fine and a four-year bowl ban. The NCAA also erased 14 years of Paterno’s victories, stripping him of his standing as the winningest coach in the history of big-time college football.

“No sanction, no politician is ever going to take away what we’ve got here,” Mauti said. “None of that’s ever going to tear us apart. Right now all we can do is put our heads down, and we’re just going to work. That’s all we can do. We’re going to fight for Penn State, fight for each other, because this is what Penn State’s about — fighting through adversity.”

Soon after the players spoke, Penn State announced that no players would be made available for Big Ten media days, which are Thursday and Friday in Chicago.